Low earnings. Monn's 15-man firm is just barely profitable. Irion earned $73,000 last year on sales of $823,000.

Slow production. Irion's yearlong pipeline of orders doesn't mean much when a single piece of furniture can take six to nine months to complete. "It's not like we're knocking out 100,000 widgets a day," says Monn, 48.

Irion's chief executive isn't worried about his own income. He rents out two houses and a commercial building that he owns near Irion's shop in tiny Christiana, Pa., on the edge of Pennsylvania Dutch country. Monn also makes decent money restoring antiques in his spare time.

Making employees happier. Monn says he wants Irion to become more profitable so that he can pay his craftsmen more and keep the company alive. "It takes five to ten years to become a master craftsman, but they make only about $40,000 a year," laments Monn. "That's about half what people pay their plumber, and it's not right. I don't want to see them installing kitchen cabinets because they need more money."